Geography of China
China is the third
largest country in area and the biggest country in population with
1.3 billion people. Located in east part of Asia on the west of
the Pacific Ocean, China is the world's third largest country in
area, after Russia and Canada. Covering an area of 9.6 million square
kilometers and with a coastline of 18,000 kilometers, its shape
on the map is like a rooster. It reaches Mohe in Heilongjiang Province
as its northern end, Zengmu Ansha Reef as its southern tip, Pamirs
to the west end and the confluence of the Heilongjiang (Amur) River
and the Ussuri River as its eastern most. From east to west it is
5200km wide. From north to south it is 5500km long. China spans
about 50 degrees of latitude and 62 degrees of longitude. China
shares the border with a lot of countries such as DPRK, Vietnam,
Laos, Burma, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan,
Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia. The land boundary
line is over 20,000km.Topography of China
China has plateaus, mountains, basins, foothills and, plains. The
mountains and plateaus occupy nearly two-thirds of the land. The
terrain of China is higher in the west and lower in the east, which
is like a three-step ladder.
The highest ladder consist of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau at the average
altitude of over 4,000 meters high, with the Kunlun Mountain
range, Qilian Mountain range and Hengduan Mountain ranges as the
division between the first ladder and the second one. The highest
peak in the world, Everest, at 8844.43 meters high is known as 'the
Roof of the World'.
On the second ladder there are large basins and plateaus, most of
which are 1,000 - 2,000 meters high. The Daxing'anling Mountain,
Taihang Mountain, Wu Mountain and Xuefeng Mountain divide this ladder
and the next lower one. Plateaus including Inner Mongolian Plateu,
the Loess Plateau, Yungui Plateau, and basins such as Tarim Basin,
Zhunge’er Basin, and Sichuan Basin are situated here.
The third ladder has broad plains dotted with the foothills and
lower mountains, with the altitudes of 500 meters below. Here are
located famous plains: the Northeast Plain, the North China Plain,
and the Middle-Lower Reach Plain of Yangtze River. China has a lot
of islands among which Taiwan Island and Hainan Island are two biggest
ones. Liaodong Peninsula and Shandong Peninsula are two biggest
peninsulas in China. The Yellow Sea, East China Sea and South China
Sea are China’s neighboring seas. The Bohai Sea is the territorial
sea of China. Main rivers and lakes in China
China has a lot of rivers. The 6300 kilometers long Yangtze River
is the longest river in China. The Yellow River (5500km) is the
second longest rive in China, which is also called the Mother Rive
of China because it is the cradle of the ancient Chinese civilization.
Other rivers such as the Pearl River in the south, Huaihe River
in the east, Heilong Jiang River in the north and Lancangjiang River
(Mekong River) in the south west are also important rivers. China
also has big lakes such as Qinghai Lake which is a saltwater lake,
Dongting Lake, Poyang Lake, Taihu Lake and Chaohu Lake which are
freshwater lakes. China also has big Gobi desert such as Takalamagan
Desert which is around 320 thousand square km big. More about China’s geography is below